Bibi’s popularity

What’s the secret behind Benjamin Netanyahu’s apparent lead in the polls? It’s because he’s the default option, writes Yoel Marcus in Ha’aretz:

As the leader of a party with all of 12 seats in the Knesset, and not remembered fondly for his three years and 18 days in the Prime Minister’s Office, Netanyahu is now showing up in the opinion polls as capable of easily beating every one of the Kadima candidates in the next elections, from Tzipi Livni and Shaul Mofaz to Ehud Barak…

Maybe the explanation lies in an old Polish saying: In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king. Non-involvement in the Kadima government and its current failures has worked in his favor. With the personal and political battles now raging in Kadima, Bibi has become a default option.